As the lead singer of the Ronettes, Ronnie Spector (1943–2022) found fame while fronting one of the most popular groups of the 1960s. Veronica “Ronnie” Bennett was still in high school in New York City when she recruited her older sister and cousin to form a singing trio known initially as Ronnie and the Relatives. After the underage girls bluffed their way into a long-running gig at the Peppermint Lounge in 1961, they christened themselves the Ronettes.

Success proved elusive until 1963, when an audition with producer Phil Spector led to a record contract and their first hit single, “Be My Baby.” In 1965, the Ronettes’ recording of “Walking in the Rain” claimed a Grammy nomination, and, in 1966, they opened for the Beatles during the Fab Four’s final U.S. tour. Ronnie Spector’s singing career skidded to a halt during her marriage (1968–74) to the abusive Phil Spector, resuming only after their divorce.

Born in Montreal, Shearer’s childhood was one of privilege until her father’s business collapsed. Her ambitious mother moved the family to New York, where Shearer pursued an acting career, initially struggling with rejections from people like Florenz Ziegfeld and D.W. Griffith. She eventually found her way to Hollywood and signed a contract with MGM in 1923.

Her career skyrocketed at MGM, where she became a top star in silent films like He Who Gets Slapped (1924) and The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927). In 1927, she married MGM’s head of production, Irving Thalberg, which further cemented her powerful position within the studio.

With the advent of sound, Shearer’s career flourished. Her refined voice and intelligent screen presence made her a sensation. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her daring role in the pre-Code film The Divorcee (1930) and was nominated for five more Oscars throughout her career for films like A Free Soul (1931), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and Marie Antoinette (1938). She was famous for portraying strong, often sexually liberated, women who challenged societal norms.

After Thalberg’s death in 1936, Shearer’s career began to slow down. She made a few more notable films, including the classic all-female ensemble The Women (1939), before retiring from acting in 1942. She lived a private life with her second husband, Martin Arrougé, and rarely appeared in public. Norma Shearer passed away in 1983, leaving behind a legacy as one of Hollywood’s most influential and enduring stars.

After a string of roles in the late 1970s, she gained attention in 1981 with Roar, a chaotic film project she made with then-husband Don Johnson’s family and her mother, actress Tippi Hedren. The shoot became infamous for the real lions on set and the injuries cast members sustained.

She appeared in smaller but notable films like Fear City (1984) and Something Wild (1986), the latter showing her edgy, unpredictable screen presence. Her major breakthrough came with Body Double (1984), directed by Brian De Palma. The erotic thriller showcased her in a daring role and cemented her as a Hollywood sex symbol.

Griffith gained more critical respect with Something Wild (1986) and especially Working Girl (1988), where she played Tess McGill, an ambitious Staten Island secretary who climbs the corporate ladder. Working Girl was a huge hit and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe win.

Griffith was as famous for her personal life as her films. She had a turbulent, on-again/off-again relationship with Don Johnson (married briefly in 1976, remarried in 1989). She was also known for her striking look — platinum blonde hair, distinctive raspy voice, and a style that blended glamour with a touch of rock ‘n’ roll edge.

By the end of the 1980s, Melanie Griffith was firmly in the A-list category, transitioning into the 1990s with high-profile roles and continuing public fascination with her career and relationships.

Discovered for modeling around age 16, Houston signed with the Wilhelmina Agency in New York. She quickly appeared in teen and fashion magazines like Seventeen, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and Young Miss. In 1981, she even became one of the first Black women to appear on the cover of Seventeen—a major milestone at the time.

While Houston possessed a “girl-next-door” charm, she also had what one photographer called a “million dollar smile” and a “personality that absolutely came alive whenever the camera focused in on her.” Her look was fresh and radiant, with natural makeup, bright smiles, and often sporty or preppy outfits that were popular in early-1980s fashion spreads. She modeled alongside well-known faces such as Robyn Crawford (her close friend) and occasionally in ads for brands like United Colors of Benetton and Canada Dry.

These modeling years not only gave her poise and camera confidence but also put her in the orbit of photographers, stylists, and eventually music producers—helping pave the way for her 1983 record deal with Arista and the launch of her music career in 1985.

The Selk’nam, also known as the Ona, were indigenous to the island of Tierra del Fuego, shared today by Chile and Argentina. They were hunter-gatherers, living a nomadic life in extremely cold climates, relying on guanaco (a wild relative of the llama) for clothing and food. Their society was rich with oral traditions, elaborate rites of passage, and a worldview centered on harmony with the land.

The Selk’nam were victims of a brutal genocide in the  late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially during European colonization and the gold rush era. Ranchers and settlers saw them as obstacles to development and often hunted them for bounties.

Missionaries attempted to “civilize” them by forcibly relocating survivors and assimilating them, leading to the loss of language and culture. By the mid-20th century, the Selk’nam people were functionally extinct as a distinct community.

This photograph remains one of the last surviving records of a people nearly erased by colonial violence. The mother’s and child’s expressions carry both the sorrow of loss and the strength of survival. Today, efforts to revive and preserve Selk’nam identity continue, challenging historical silence with cultural resilience.

The lion was owned by Floyd C. Humeston, who raised Fagan from a cub. In the early 1950s, Humeston was drafted into the Army and couldn’t find a suitable caretaker for his pet lion. He first raised suspicions when he requested an emergency 14-day furlough to take care of his giant pet. Without a permanent home for Fagan, Humeston then asked to bring his pet with him to training at California’s Fort Ord. The request denied, Fagan lived briefly at the Monterey Humane Society before being placed in a circus.

The trials and tribulations of Fagan and his 24-year-old owner were chronicled in LIFE magazine in 1951. MGM producer Sidney Franklin Jr. read the story and saw an opportunity for a movie. The film version of Humeston’s story, starring Fagan himself, was released in 1952.

While Esther Williams did not star in the movie Fearless Fagan, her involvement in the photos, taken by photographer Loomis Dean, helped create a memorable moment in Hollywood history.